BRIDGEPORT – The same Achilles heel that affected the Buckhannon-Upshur soccer Bucs this year reared its ugly head at the worst time possible in their sectional opener on the road at the Bridgeport Indians Tuesday night.
The Bucs, who had a lack of offense during the season getting shutout seven times, failed to score again in their tournament lid-lifter dropping a 4-0 decision to the Indians.
Even more frustrating for the Bucs was they had their chances as they had eight shots-on-goal and six corner kicks in the setback.
Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Mike Donato said his Bucs had a good week of preparation leading up to the game.
“I felt we had a great week of preparation,” stated Donato. “We had a good mix of rest, conditioning, film study, and training to where I felt the guys were well prepared. Our energy and intensity in practice and the game was great and we kept the pressure on them the whole game, especially in the first 20 minutes.
In their first outing on back on Oct. 3, the two teams battled to a 1-1 draw.
This time, Bridgeport’s Jackson Cogar gave the Indians a 1-0 in the 17th minute on a penalty kick.
Cogar struck again just two minutes later with an unassisted goal putting the Bucs down by a 2-0 score.
Greyson Church scored on a breakaway to up Bridgeport’s lead to 3-0 in the 27th minute.
The lone goal of the second half belonged to Cogar, who scored on a header from a corner kick by John Dumas.
“Even after the PK we never really felt out of the game, statistically outside of goals we matched or surpassed them in shots and possession,” concluded Donato. “We also had great opportunities with some free kick opportunities, but we weren’t able to capitalize.”
Bridgeport put eight shots-on-goal and tallied three corner kicks.
Buckhannon-Upshur was guilty of six fouls while Bridgeport was called for 10.
B-U keeper Kaleb Kowalkoski made four saves while Bridgeport goalie Andrew Dumas made eight saves.
Bridgeport improved to 12-6-3 and will visit University Thursday for the sectional crown.
The Bucs closed out their year with a 6-12-3 record.
The boxscore:
Buckhannon-Upshur 0 0 – 0
Bridgeport 3 1 – 4
(Scoring)
Bridgeport – Jackson Cogar (penalty kick), 17th minute.
Bridgeport – Cogar (unassisted), 19th minute.
Bridgeport – Greyson Church (unassisted), 27th minute.
Bridgeport – Cogar (John Dumas assist), 47th minute.
Shots-on-goal – Buckhannon-Upshur: 8; Bridgeport: 8.
Corner kicks – Buckhannon-Upshur: 6; Bridgeport: 3.
Fouls – Buckhannon-Upshur: 6; Bridgeport: 10.
Saves – Buckhannon-Upshur: Kaleb Kowalkoski 4; Andrew Dumas 8.
